nrl social media campaign: stella fella

1. National Rugby League Strengthening the NRL Brand using Social Technology to Improve Match Attendance & Club Membership

2. CONTENTS Background Strategy Development Brand Diagnosis Brand Promotion 01 02 03 04

3. Section One - Background Opportunities for the NRL

4. What is the NRL about? VISION To be the most entertaining, most engaging and most respected sport MISSION To bring people together and enrich their lives VALUES Excellence, Inclusiveness, Courage, Teamwork

5. Strengths at a Glance 3M annual game attendees High television viewership Television rights on par with the AFL - $1.2B plus Mobile streaming rights still to be commercialised 3.6 million unique social media touch points

6. NRL v AFL Key Audience Stats 950,000 680,000 200,000 270,000 3.0M 6.8M 200,000 800,000 ATTENDEES CLUB MEMBERS

7. Performance Assessment The Status of the Game Element Why Metric Television Viewership Revenue Game Attendance Experience Club Membership Pipeline

8. Section Two Brand Analysis The NRL Brand

9. SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

10. Brand ScoreCard 3 6 5 7 2 3 5 4 3 Marketing activities fully utilised Makes sense Consistent Properly positioned Properly priced Delivers customer benefits Maintained & supported Understood by managers The NRL Brand is.. Stays relevant 4 Monitored

11. Customer Testimonials

13. Brand Associations NRL The everymans game Accessible Female friendly Family friendly Quality family time Community focused Australian sporting eminence Punching above our weight as sporting nation Fan for life The everyMANs: game Disrespect for women / misogyny Bogans Lewd Behaviour Too rough to attend with kids Risk Taking Concussion Brain Damage Muhammad Ali Athleticism Incredible athletes Personal inspiration to get fit Personal growth Brutality / Violence Too violent for my child to watch/play Soccer or AFL a better option Exciting to watch Boring at ground Bad food Not worth going to watch live No point becoming a member

18. Brand Association Priorities Brutality Misogyny Loyal fans Bad Live Tough Good T.V. Professional Athleticism Family

19. Performance Assessment The Status of the Game Element Why Metric Brand Television Viewership Revenue Game Attendance Experience Club Membership Pipeline

20. Section Three Strategy Development How can social technologies solve this branding challenge?

21. Social Media and Sport Benchmarking 50% Female Sport Fans 25-34 Access sports content on-line while watching non sport television 35% 18-34 Year Olds Use social media to share sports content Sports Fans Go on-line at least once a day to access sports content 66% Fans with Smartphones Smartphone penetration amongst sports fans 80%

22. The opportunities a social media strategy creates Media & VenuesClubs & PlayersFans - families and individuals Offer fans unprecedented access to new content Humanise & Personalise Teams and athletes Make fans contributors to teams and unite them Put fans in control, make them part of a two way conversation and adapt the message

23. What the NRL Social Media platform looks like now The NRL engages fans via Twitter and Facebook: Same content cross platform PR driven No conversation with fans The NRL needs to do the following: Two way conversation Social media game day opportunities only available to attendees New voice, content, style and player training

24. The NRL Social Technology Strategy Actions Enablers Focus Strategy 1. Empower fans as contributors 2. Humanise and personalise the players and clubs 3. Deliver never before seen content for the at game experience Players Game Day Fans define what they want to see from their rugby players and what associations they want The leagues and venues allow fans to define what experiences they can participate in during the game, either at home or at the venue We will bring the brand to life through personalisation & increased engagement

25. Section Four Brand Promotion #StellaFella

26. Promotional Campaign - Stella Fella - Player & Fan Focus 30 WEEKSPAID MEDIA CAMPAIGN Launch - New associations & raise awareness Conversation with fans Fans co-create exclusivity 50,000 eligible fans selected for NRL Stella Fella Community Day Fan Virality #StellafellaNRL

27. Stella Fella Application Features highlights At the Game Smart arena wifi access to unique content Fans choose the umpires Fans design/chose the jersey Fans ask post-game interview questions Fans choose venue music playlist Video umpiring Before the Game Real time player statistics tracker Post Stella Fella photos with hashtag #StellaFellaNRL

28. Promotional Campaign - Stella Fella - Game Day 12 hours ????? Fan engagement and relationships Fans engage in pre game Trial new venue experiences Post game event NRL Stella Fella Community Game Day

29. Promotional Campaign Success Checklist Strategic Pillar NRL Strategic Objective Measured By Stella Fella Success Elite Clubs, Players and Competition Engage children and families to create lifelong fans % increase in sale of club family memberships Annual review of junior club registration numbers YES Pathways and Participation Gender and culturally specific programs attract and retain a diversifying participation base Customer Attendance Surveys against 2014 baseline NEUTRAL Rugby League Family Improve game day experience and drive up average match attendance by 4% to 20,000 Customer Satisfaction Rating Quarterly Surveys Gate revenue YoY comparison YES Reach and Profile Rugby League will be seen by parents as a safe choice for children Parent perception surveys on safety and rugby league YES Community Be recognised nationally for making a positive difference in the community and speaking out on issues of social significance Media monitor reports Content analysis of partner organisations mentioned during campaign YES Financial Strength Double the organisations non-broadcast revenue YoY financial reporting baseline 2014 year NEUTRAL

30. Fan Feedback to recommendations

31. The New Campaign

32. Questions?

33. Appendices

34. Entertainment 16 Teams across Australia and New Zealand 192 Televised Games in 26 Weeks More than 12 million viewers of the State of Origin series across Australia Televised Viewing 61 of the top 100 viewed programs on Pay TV 8 of the top 10 viewed program of FTA Sold five year television rights for $1.025 billion in 2012. Social Reach 3.6 million unique social touchpoints every year 2.4 million unique mobile streamings in 2013 More than 128,000 participants in online fantasy league. Match Attendance 3,060,840 people attended a NRL games in 2013 Decrease of 2.9% from 2012 season Disparity between Sydney based clubs and non- Sydney based clubs. Club Membership 204,772 members of 16 supporter networks Increase of 12.7% since 2012 6 successive years of membership increases Appendix A - The State of Play

35. Entertainment 16 Teams across Australia and New Zealand 18 Teams across Australia 10 Teams across Australia and New Zealand Televised Viewing 2.7 million viewers per week 3.94 million viewers per week 800,000 viewers per week Social Reach 959,090 Facebook Likes 200,000 Twitter Followers 687,228 Facebook Likes 279,000 Twitter Followers 177,029 Facebook Likes 78,300 Twitter Followers Match Attendance 192 games per season. 3,060,840 unique attendees. 207 games per season. 6,975,137 unique attendees. 135 games per season. 1,760,508 unique attendees. Club Membership 204,772 Club Memberships 814,657 Club Memberships 83,337 Club Memberships Appendix B - Competition

36. Appendix C - Notes on Brand Scorecard

37. Appendix D - Detailed Brand Association Strengthen / Build Maintain Remove / Address Family friendly Female friendly All-rounders Physicality Athleticism Nation-wide & internationally relevant Australia, punching- above weight as a sporting nation Everymans game Hard men Accessible Loyalty Good TV Experience Brutality Extreme risk-taking Mysonigistic Bogans Boring at-ground experience

38. References Daily Telegraph (2013) http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-boss-dave-smith-unveils-massive-management-restructure/story-e6frexnr- 1226627565914 Accessed November 23 2014 Daily Telegraph (2014) http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-suffers-another-hit-as-tv-ratings-down-for-the-second-year-in-a-row/story- fnp0lyn3-1227054536927?nk=2d03c0c3f6d729781422a3100e09ea56. Accessed November 23 2014 NRL (2013) http://www.nrl.com/new-nrl-head-of-marketing,-digital-and-content/tabid/10874/newsid/75108/default.aspx. Accessed November 20 2014 NRL (2013) http://www.nrl.com/rugby-league-launches-new-brand-logo/tabid/10874/newsid/70308/default.aspx. Accessed November 20 2014 Scribble Live (2014) http://www.scribblelive.com/blog/2014/02/19/10-stats-to-help-you-increase-sports-fan-engagement/ Accessed November 23 2014 Scribble Live (2014) http://www.scribblelive.com/blog/2014/02/19/10-stats-to-help-you-increase-sports-fan-engagement/ Accessed November 23 2014 Sports Business Insider (2013) http://sportsbusinessinsider.com.au/news/sport/rleague/will-touch-football-really-boost-the-nrl-brand/ Accessed November 23 2014 Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2014) http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/five-key-trends-are-driving-business-sports Accessed November 20 2014 Sports Business Insider (2012) http://sportsbusinessinsider.com.au/news/sport/rleague/origins-impact-on-the-nrl-is-rugby-leagues-greatest- strength-also-its-greatest-weakness/. Accessed November 23 2014 Sydney Morning Herald (2012) http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/the-threeheaded-monster-that-is-swallowing-the-nrl- 20120528-1zeav.html. Accessed November 23 2014 The Roar (2013) http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/09/13/why-have-nrl-crowds-dropped-in-2013/. Accessed November 12 2014

39. Assessment checklist . Strengthening a brand, making use of available technology to do so. develop an outline for a promotional campaign for a brand. address an area of relative weakness. draw on concepts and frameworks from lectures and in-class exercises to complete the group project brand diagnosis - strengths and weaknesses of the brand, identify an important area where the brand can improve. What does the brand stand for, What is its purpose in the world, What is your brands point of differentiation relative to competition? What makes it unique? talk to 4 or 5 customers of the brand to see what they say about it, check out consumer reviews, and look at the companys mission and vision statements. Develop strategy for building the brand find a way to strengthen the brand on its weakness. Discuss the campaigns content or message, the audience targeted and the media channels to be used. Indicate any features of your strategy that would increase virality, if this aspect is important. Develop a promotional effort gives people a meaningful, emotive experience with the brand. The experience could offer individuals a chance to interact with the brand, or offer groups a chance to interact with each other using the brand as the basis for their interaction. If you chose this approach, the key would be to engineer a brand-relevant experience that moves people in some way. Get feedback test your ideas. Get people to go through the brand experience you have designed, and get their reactions to this experience. Ideally, you would like to trial your experience concept, and refine your design based on the feedback you get. Record these experiences and the feedback on a phone or video camera, so that you can include these clips in your project presentation. The group project has two deliverables: Grading Criteria Presentations will be scored on the following criteria. Understand the brand: Information provided, thoroughness of analyses and depth of insights Campaign outline: Effectiveness of ideas, insightfulness and creativity, and empathy with target consumers Presentation style: Effectiveness of delivery and audio-visual materials

nrl social media campaign: stella fella

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